As people in Ukraine continue to suffer from the affects of war, there are so many ways God’s church can meet their needs. Pastor Bogdan’s message and testimonies below serve as an amazing story of your faithfulness to generously support those facing hardship and despair. Through providing food and clothing, rebuilding homes, preaching, and Bible study, the local church can continue to step in and reach the lost right where it’s needed most. As Natalia says in her testimony below, “Many are now praying to the Living God and we are especially grateful to the Christians who responded so quickly and sincerely to our needs!”

Dear friends in Jesus!

Before the invasion began, our church served in many directions: preaching the Gospel, evangelism, ministry to addicts (three rehabilitation centers), social assistance to needy people, children with disabilities, organizing and conducting children’s parties, visiting the elderly and bedridden, etc. After the invasion, the church was actively involved in serving and helping the people of Ukraine. We joined the local volunteer headquarters and began baking bread and helping the military to equip defensive structures. Later, we had to evacuate local residents from dangerous places. We did it with our own transport. Believers from Christian missions helped us with funds for this. With the support of the missions, we had the opportunity to show people God’s care for them through the church of God. We also started praying and asking God for food, clothing, hygiene products and fuel. God graciously blessed our church with all this and we distributed it to people in need. It was a great opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the unsaved. 

            Later, we as a church began to visit the villages that were under occupation. And there were many such villages. We helped people with food, medicines, clothing, hygiene products, and much more because their homes were destroyed and looted.  We were telling people that it was God who was taking care of them, and they were praising our Heavenly Father for that. We also began to repair and restore people’s destroyed homes. In particular, we repaired the roofs, restored the walls as much as possible and removed the fragments. We helped to restore and rebuild about 50 houses. Of course, all this was possible with the help of God’s caring people and Christian missions! 

In one of such villages, a new church was founded and is now serving in the area. Also, small home groups have been organized and are held on a regular basis in ten villages with the prospect of establishing new churches there. People are being baptized by faith in Jesus Christ! We are very thankful that the Lord has given us wisdom, resources and we as a church can serve in the conditions of war and constantly improve in this. 

To our friends from SGA and other sponsors who have participated and are participating in the delivery of food, we are sincerely grateful to the Lord and to you for your sacrifice and dedication in this ministry! Your help is very important and necessary for the church to serve people. We will continue to be very grateful to the mission for all kinds of assistance! With faith in God and together for victory! God’s blessings to you! 

Testimony #1 (Antonina)

      “When the war came to our village, my little daughter was at her grandfather’s house at that time. I was so scared that the invaders would not do anything to my daughter. Fear gripped my whole body. They were destroying everything in their way. So I knew that only God could protect them. I asked God to liberate our village. We are all alive, praise God, although our houses are all destroyed and need to be completely restored or repaired. I am very grateful for the food support, it is a huge help for our family. Evangelical Christians show special care and love for us who have suffered greatly. They come, bring food, restore or repair our houses and roofs. And all this is free for us. We sincerely thank everyone!” 

Testimony #2 (Natalia)

“My name is Natalia. Our village has been occupied for over a month. Since it is located on the main highway, our village became the first stop for the invading army, where they settled down and were doing whatever they wanted. We experienced horror, grief, and the killing of our people by our enemies. Our residents suffered a lot of losses, a lot of suffering, and it is very sad. My husband was also captured by the Russian army. They mocked him a lot. He had many injuries on his body. Later, we were able to rescue my husband. He underwent several surgeries and got prosthetics. He survived, but he already has a group of disabilities. 

      “During all this time, we saw that many people turned to God in prayer. And our rural people did not despair. Many are now praying to the Living God and we are especially grateful to the Christians who responded so quickly and sincerely to our needs! I also had three young Christian men come to my house to help rebuild the roof, bring wonderful food from SGA, and bring material for reconstruction. Incredible sincere people who showed the love of God in their work! Thanks to all the sponsors and kind people for their support. May God bless everyone and send us victory!”

Testimony #3 (Mykola)

“It is very painful to remember what it was like. My house was all shelled, all covered with holes. My daughter came after our village was liberated. I said to her: ‘My dear daughter, I am the only one who survived, but my whole house is shelled, like a target.’  I now believe that it was only God who saved me among all those explosions and shrapnel. The house was all cut up by shrapnel inside and out. After we were liberated from the occupiers, Christian volunteers came and restored and repaired my house. It now looks even better than it did before the shelling. I am so grateful to God for all these good men, for their help! I also thank God for such incredibly delicious food aid. I have never tasted anything like this in my life. Even people from abroad take care of me because they personally send me such delicious food. Thank you very much and please send a warm greeting to all these good people from uncle Mykola!” 

With gratitude,
Pastor Bogdan
Pastor “Bread of Life” Church